Rathen | |
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![]() Rathen Kirk and adjacent but and ben | |
Location within Aberdeenshire | |
OS grid reference | NK000607 |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | FRASERBURGH |
Postcode district | AB43 |
Dialling code | 01346 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Rathen is a parish and hamlet near Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. In Scottish Gaelic, its name means fort on the river. [1]
On the coast is Cairnbulg Point, flanking the eastern side of Fraserburgh Bay. [1] Mormond Hill (769 feet (234 m)) sits on the borders of Rathen, Strichen and Lonmay. [1] Rathen Burn runs through the parish for three miles. [1]
The old kirk, St Ethernan's, [2] is one of the most ancient in Aberdeenshire. The church was given, by Marjory, Countess of Buchan, to Arbroath Abbey in the 13th century. [1] In 1328, Robert the Bruce, a year before his death, granted it to the college and canons of Old Machar. [1] A sundial was added in the kirkyard in 1625, [2] and the church's nave was erected by the Frasers of Memsie in 1646. [1] While the belfry dates from 1782, its bell has the inscription Peter Jansen, 1643. [1] Also in the kirkyard are the burials of the great great grandparents of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. [2]
The church was replaced in 1868 by a new construction, designed by William Smith, [2] to the east of its predecessor. [1]
There is also a free church, Inverallochy and Rathen East Church, [3] two miles northeast of Rathen. [4]
At the end of the 19th century, the main residence was Mormond House (formerly Cortese House), [2] with House of Memsie being used as a farmhouse. [1]
Rathen railway station formerly existed as part of the now-defunct Formartine and Buchan Railway.